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Homeschool CarnivalsPosted on Tuesday 26 June 2007 at 12:57 PM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Linkhttp://homeschoolingjourney.com/homeschooling-carnival-1/Homeschooling Carnival #1 over at Homeschooling Journey http://homeschoolhacks.com/2007/06/25/carnival-of-homeschooling-surgery-edition/ Carnival of Homeschooling #78 - Surgery Edition Stop by these homeschool carnivals and see what homeschooling bloggers are writing about this week. The Reader Caught ReadingPosted on Monday 25 June 2007 at 10:44 AM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkI'm catching up on pictures: I love watching him read. Why We HomeschoolPosted on Friday 22 June 2007 at 9:01 AM in Homeschooling - 1 Comments - Post Comment - LinkMy second tips for beginning homeschoolers post...find out more by visiting Kelly at Pass the Torch http://2passthetorch.com/.We are almost finished with our school year...we have about 4 weeks left before our little summer vacation (we school year round). Most of my family and friends are very understanding about our decision to homeschool...but I still find myself having to defend our decision to homeschool with some people. I understand it's is not for everyone, but it's right for us. So I decided to make a list of reasons why we chose to homeschool. Homeschooling is one of the easiest things I've ever done...but it's also one of the hardest things. Once in a while there will come a day when you're burned out and ready to throw in the towel...it can be helpful to re-read through the reasons you chose to homeschool. Here are some of the reason why we chose homeschooling (and yes, I did get some ideas from other homeschoolers on the net!): * We want to keep the heart of our son where it should to be, with us - his parents, until it is time for him to marry and to leave home. * We want to have control over what he is exposed to - both good and bad. We would like to present these things to him ourselves at a time when we feel he is mature enough to gain the greatest benefit. * We love being with our son. We are truly blessed. * We have full control over the curriculum he is using, and can tailor it as needed to his learning style. * We had already taught him to walk, talk, eat, potty, dress himself etc. * No one loves our son or has his best interest at heart like we, his parents, do. * We want instill in our son a love for learning. * They don't teach Greek in public schools. * Prayer is allowed and encouraged. * Our son won't spend most of each day with children we normally wouldn't let him hang around with. * Our son will never stuff anyone in a locker. * We can spend much more time at the library. * It's all homework. * Our son will learn positive values and good morals each day. * Our son can go to the bathroom any time he wants. * Our son won't be ranked, judged, labeled or categorized. * Art and music will never be cut. * There is no assigned seating. * Our son ALWAYS makes the honor roll. * We have a lot of fun. * Our son has more free time to pursue his own interests. * Our son can ask questions at any time. * We can spend more time on recess. * The lunches here are healthier. Remember those soggy grilled cheese sandwiches in the plastic bags? * We can homeschool anywhere at any time. * We get to sleep in. * Our son can learn at his own pace. If he doesn't understand something, we can spend extra time on it. * We don't have to go "back to school" since we homeschool all through the year. * The class size is perfect. * The lines are much shorter at Cedar Point after public school starts. * We feel our home environment is a safe refuge from drugs, violence, prejudice and moral decay. And the most important reason? I like this one shared by another homeschooling family: We are spending hours of study in our home and dedicating our lives to find out if it is really spelled home school, home-school or homeschool. My Homeschool "Must Haves"Posted on Friday 22 June 2007 at 8:44 AM in Homeschooling - 2 Comments - Post Comment - LinkKelly at Pass the Torch http://2passthetorch.com/ is gathering up everyone's tips for beginner homeschoolers. I wanted to re-post a couple that I felt would fit this. When I started homeschooling, I wanted to create the school environment here at home. I found a school desk at a yard sale, bought all kinds of school supplies. Now that I have a couple years of homeschooling under my belt (we are finishing second grade) I've found mosst of that stuff hardly got used. The desk is sitting in our storage unit waiting to be sold at our yard sale. There are many things we use each day for homeschooling...binders, pencils, big erasers and especially the Bible...but there are a few things I've found that really work for us:Dry Erase Board and Markers - We use this for everything. Our 2' x 3' dry erase board serves as our chalk board as we learn different subjects. Boo used to practice writing his letters on it and he uses it now to write out his math problems and spelling words. You don't even need a dry erase board...just a plastic page protector with a blank white paper in it...which is what we use when we travel. For younger kids you can put in alphabet/number/shape pages and have them trace them...and you don't have to keep making copies. Dice - Not just the standard 6-sided dice, but we have 4-, 8-, 10- and 20- sided dice also. Dominos can be used too...we have the ones that go up to 24. Instead of printing out math problems I give Boo the dice and he rolls them out, writes down the numbers on the two dice and adds them together or subtracts the greater number from the lesser. I also plan on doing the same thing when we really get into multiplication. Sometimes I'll give him 3 or 4 dice and have him add the numbers together. It's one of his favorite ways to do math. Index Cards - I use them as flashcards for everything...math problems, spelling words, vocabulary words, phonics rules, Bible verses etc. They are also portable. I had some extra shower curtain rings...you know the thin, cheap metal ones...and put the index cards on one of those rings after punching holes in the corners. They all stay together and Boo can take them anywhere. Library Card - It's amazing the wealth of resources the library has...even our tiny county library. It's also amazing the amount of money saved instead of renting DVD's or buying books. Laminator - Print it up once, laminate it and re-use it over and over again. Dry erase markers work on these too! I laminate maps, lists, forms, Bible verses, cursive alphabet for tracing etc. The Internet - Honestly...I can't imagine homeschooling without it. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. If you homeschool, what are your "must haves?" Share your best homeschool tips - a call for bloggersPosted on Thursday 21 June 2007 at 5:00 PM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkTomorrow (Friday, June 22) Kelly at Pass the Torch will be gathering up everyone's tips for beginner homeschoolers. I'm sure even "almost" veteren homeschoolers will enjoy it also...I know I will. If you have homeschooling tips you'd like to pass on, she's going to post a Mr. Linky with links from everyone's homeschool blog posts. You can find more info here.The 77th Carnival of HomeschoolingPosted on Wednesday 20 June 2007 at 1:20 PM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkBuckle up and enjoy the road trip! Don't forget to watch the signs along the way! The host this week is Consent of the Governed: http://yedies.blogspot.com/2007/06/carnival-of-homeschooling-77-homeschool.htmlFamily Fuming Over Student's Unflattering AwardsPosted on Friday 15 June 2007 at 8:37 AM in Homeschooling - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Linkhttp://www.theindychannel.com/education/13492359/detail.html?cnn=yes&qs=1;bp=tHow awful for him. I know that this doesn't go on all the time...but I'm still happy that I homeschool. Teacher sues students over teddy bear film...Posted on Monday 4 June 2007 at 1:08 PM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkAnother reason to homeschool...http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/17308171.htm Why teachers 'should stop pupils raising their hands'Posted on Friday 1 June 2007 at 12:18 PM in Homeschooling - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link...because it holds back more timid, "invisible children" who fail to make enough progress at primary school. Homeschooler Wins National Spelling BeePosted on Friday 1 June 2007 at 9:45 AM in Homeschooling - 3 Comments - Post Comment - LinkThere were five homeschoolers in the 80th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee when the field was narrowed down to the final 15 for the prime time broadcast. I didn't watch the whole thing (forgot it was on) but did catch the end of it when 13 year old Nate Gartke from Canada misspelled the word "coryza" (he spelled it "choryza"). 13 year old homeschooler Evan O'Dorney correctly spelled "serrefine" to win. The other homeschoolers in the final 15 were No. 5: 14-year-old Jonathan Horton of Gilbert, Ariz.; No. 12: 12-year-old Tia Natasha-Elizabeth Thomas of Coarsegold, Calif.; No. 47: 14-year-old Joseph Henares of Avon, Conn.; and No. 161: 12-year-old Matthew Evans of Albuquerque, NM. I was also excited to see No. 135: 13-year-old Nithya P. Vijayakumar of Canton, Mich. Canton is close to my old stomping grounds and very close to where hubby used to work before we moved to Indiana. Boys & Manners Toolbox UpdatePosted on Thursday 31 May 2007 at 7:51 AM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkWhile Boo is fairly well behaved, I'll admit that he needs a bit of help with his manners. The folks over at Homeschool Radio Shows have a special going on for a "manners toolbox" for boys. It is available for only $7 (normally $14.95) through the end of June! I imagine there will be info in there useful for both boys and girls. From Africa to a U.S. high schoolPosted on Wednesday 30 May 2007 at 11:06 AM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkAn interesting post over at Joanne Jacobs blog...From Africa to a U.S. high school http://joannejacobs.com/2007/05/30/from-africa-to-a-us-high-school/ One of the many reasons we homeschool. Boys & Manners ToolboxPosted on Tuesday 29 May 2007 at 1:22 PM in Homeschooling - 1 Comments - Post Comment - LinkWhile Boo is fairly well behaved, I'll admit that he needs a bit of help with his manners. The folks over at Homeschool Radio Shows have a special going on for a "manners toolbox" for boys. It is available for only $7 (normally $14.95) through the end of June! I imagine there will be info in there useful for both boys and girls.http://www.wholesomechildhood.com/manners/ I'm considering getting it, but was wondering if anyone else has gotten it already and what they think of it? I know it's only $7, but when every penny counts I really want to make sure I'm not getting a dud. Other stuff I've gotten from them has always been good...but I just thought I would ask. Free Public EducationPosted on Friday 25 May 2007 at 2:06 PM in Homeschooling - 2 Comments - Post Comment - LinkNot really free.This discussion about school fees started on one of the groups I'm on so I thought I would take it here too. All my friends and relatives that have children have them in public schools. When I talk to them about school I find it amazing how EXPENSIVE public school actually is. I just recently found out that the public schools around here charge rental fees for school books. Around $150 a year in some schools! I don't ever remember paying anything like that when I was in public school. Where is my tax money going anyway?? I did have to pay for my books in college, but I could also sell them back to the used book store when I was finished. I've heard that some schools even accept Visa and Master Card. Can you believe it? I never rode the bus as a kid, but I hear now some schools charge the kids to ride to school....I've heard this is as high as $150 a year. Add to that the laundry list of school supplies that include zip lock bags, paper towels, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, liquid soap...in some cases specifying specific brands (only get Crayola Crayons, Elmer's Glue, Fischer Safety Scissors). We can't forget the school pictures which from what I hear now are taken in the fall...and again in the spring. There are lunches, field trips, yearbooks, snacks, book sales and who knows what else. My pockets are empty just thinking about it. Good grief...it's actually cheaper to homeschool!! Some interesting related articles/links I found...especially the first one: http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5592024 http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070523/News01/70523041 http://www.duneland.k12.in.us/news/registration.html http://wl.k12.in.us/co/documents/2006-07BookRentalELEM.pdf The Carnival of Homeschooling #73 @ The Lilting HousePosted on Wednesday 23 May 2007 at 11:37 AM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkMelissa Wiley is hosting this weeks Carnival of Homeschool over at her blog The Lilting House. Stop by and see what homeschoolers are blogging about this week.Homeschool Year End...almostPosted on Wednesday 23 May 2007 at 10:52 AM in Homeschooling - 2 Comments - Post Comment - LinkI'm so glad that we are getting to the end of our school year...I need a BREAK!I imagine that we should be done with everything for this year by July, then we'll be starting back up again in September after Labor Day. I personally need to take some time to sit and evaluate everything we've done this year and how we've done things. I'm sure there needs to be some changes made...many on my part. I'm already thinking about next years curriculum. This weekend we will be attending a used curriculum sale and I think that I'm going with all used curriculum for third grade to save some money. I'll see what they have and see what hubby thinks about it. We are sticking with ABeka for the basics, Bob Jones for Bible and Sonlight for their readers and read alouds. We'll see what we find at the used curriculum sale. I'm dissappointed that Boo wasn't really able to learn much Spanish this year. Switched on Schoolhouse Elementary Spanish really didn't work well for us. But the more research I do, the more I'm thinking Latin would be really good right now instead. Boo likes sign language too, so we'll be continuing that. Nobody stepped up to lead our local homeschool group this year, so we really didn't do anything. We also changed churches and we are the only homeschoolers in our new church. I miss being involved in a good homeschool group...so if there is going to be one in this area I guess I need to step up myself. "What are you going to do about a diploma??" I've heard this question quite a bit this past year...and Boo is only in second grade. lol Assuming the homeschool laws here in Indiana do not change, this is what we will probably do: Once Boo has finished all the requirements we set for him to graduate, we will print out a diploma on the computer and host our own little graduation ceremony/party. Very simple. We'll put together a transcript according to what the colleges want and we'll see what happens from there. But like I said...Boo is only in second grade. Things could change dramatically by the time he graduates. Just some thoughts as we see this years homeschool finish line in the distance. All in all...homeschooling is one of the best decisions hubby and I have made. My Homeschool "Must Haves"Posted on Saturday 12 May 2007 at 10:02 AM in Homeschooling - 1 Comments - Post Comment - LinkWe will be going to one of our states largest homeschool conventions next weekend. I get all excited to go, anxious to see all the different vendors...and I quickly get burned out because there is just so much there. lol Anyway...no matter what new-fangled stuff they have, I still have my "tried and true" must-haves:Dry Erase Board and Markers - We use this for everything. Our 2' x 3' dry erase board serves as our chalk board as we learn different subjects. Boo used to practice writing his letters on it and he uses it now to write out his math problems and spelling words. You don't even need a dry erase board...just a plastic page protector with a blank white paper in it...which is what we use when we travel. Dice - Not just the standard 6-sided dice, but we have 4-, 8-, 10- and 20- sided dice also. Dominos can be used too...we have the ones that go up to 24. Instead of printing out math problems I give Boo the dice and he rolls them out, writes down the numbers on the two dice and adds them together or subtracts the greater number from the lesser. I also plan on doing the same thing when we really get into multiplication. Sometimes I'll give him 3 or 4 dice and have him add the numbers together. It's one of his favorite ways to do math. Index Cards - I use them as flashcards for everything...math problems, spelling words, vocabulary words, phonics rules, Bible verses etc. They are also portable. I had some extra shower curtain rings...you know the thin, cheap metal ones...and put the index cards on one of those rings after punching holes in the corners. They all stay together and Boo can take them anywhere. Library Card - It's amazing the wealth of resources the library has...even our tiny county library. It's also amazing the amount of money saved instead of renting DVD's or buying books. Laminator - Print it up once, laminate it and re-use it over and over again. Dry erase markers work on these too! I laminate maps, lists, forms, Bible verses etc. The Internet - Honestly...I can't imagine homeschooling without it. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. If you homeschool, what are your "must haves?" Homeschool burnout? 10 tips for copingPosted on Friday 11 May 2007 at 4:04 PM in Homeschooling - 1 Comments - Post Comment - LinkI'm suffering a touch of burnout myself...made worse by having a cold. This is a great post from the Let's Play Math blog: Frogs and ToadsPosted on Wednesday 9 May 2007 at 9:56 AM in Homeschooling - 0 Comments - Post Comment - LinkI wish I was able to post pictures, but I have yet to get the software back on my computer. But Boo caught a frog and a toad in our yard yesterday. What great science projects. Today we are going to study them and learn the differences between the two. We also have a couple Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel that he can read. I would love to find some frog/toad eggs...or even tadpoles so that we can study them. There is a pond close by, maybe we'll take a walk there this afternoon if it stops raining. I came across a great website with all kinds of information about frogs called Frogland at http://allaboutfrogs.org/ . They even have frog jokes! What did the frog order at McDonalds? French flies and a diet croak. lol I found some frog/toad stuff on the Enchanted Learning website and we'll probably use some of that: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/amphibians/frogs.shtml. If you have a preschooler, you might like this web page: http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/amphibians.htm. I'd also like to do a craft or two. One is going to be a toad house/pool for the garden. Here are some other crafts that I found: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/frogs.htm, http://www.daniellesplace.com/HTML/frogcrafts.html. Should be a fun day.Funny Homeschool Socialization CartoonPosted on Friday 27 April 2007 at 1:43 PM in Homeschooling - 4 Comments - Post Comment - LinkThis was shared on one of the homeschool groups I'm on...http://www.geocities.com/mrkodytoon/socialization.jpg UPDATE: Link is fixed. Sorry about that. 
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